Obviously you don't have a Kindle Fire. I have an iPad2 and HTC EVO 3d and HTC EVO 4G and NONE of them stream video anywhere near as good as the Kindle Fire. AND the best is HuLu High Def. You are in no way limited on the Kindle Fire. I have: HBO GO, MAX GO, Netflix, Dish Remote, YouTube HD, HuLu Plus and more will come. I have iHeart Radio, Pandora, FoxNews Radio...
What I don't have yet is XM Player.
I am running Go Launcher EX and the Amazon Market. There are no limits. Yes I rooted and did some side loading of apps, but that was within the first day I had the thing. It was the easiest root ever and VooDo OT allows me to temporarily turn un-root so I can stream Amazon Video.
This is not a replacement for the iPad but a compliment. They are totally different devices. iPad is horrible for content because Apple doesn't play well with others. iPad was released on 4/3/2010 and there is STILL no Flash player. There is no device out there that can come close at all to competing with the Kindle Fire anywhere close to the price range.
It's only been out a couple weeks and folks are trying to compare it to a device that is working on it's third generation, and a device that costs 2.5 to 5 times as much. Reality is in order here. I like my iPad 2 for apps, but I hate it for reading or streaming and it is too heavy for long term holding. The Kindle Fire is a good size to use as a personal device for long periods of time. They are just different animals. I expect Kindle Fire to eventually sell just as many units as the iPad and yet have little affect on the sales of the iPad.
You really can't go wrong for $199. This device us going to stand the Android tablet market on it's head.